Las Vegas CBS KXNT – Sheriff Doug Gillespie says he’s expecting a large contingent of police officers to show up at Tuesday’s Clark County Commission meeting, where the commissioners will decide whether to support the “More Cops” sales tax increase.

Gillespie himself is ready to go, with facts and figures supporting his argument that Las Vegas Metro Police Department needs the increase, in order to provide the level of public safety the community requires.

You have to go back to 1996 to find the ratio of police officers to 1,000 permanent residents as low as it is now, the sheriff said on Thursday at a meeting with reporters.

“Crime is trending up, police officer ratio is going down,” Gillespie said, adding that demands on the police have increased since the late 1990s because of responsibilities related to homeland security after the September 11 attacks.

Some county commissioners are questioning whether Metro’s money is well spent. Several have asked whether the agency could trim certain extras, like its equestrian and helicopter units, to put more patrol officers on the street.

The commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday for two ordinances that would increase Clark County’s sales tax by either .15 cents or .075 cents. The sales tax is currently 8.1 percent.